Holden gets serious about off-roading

The Colorado 7 is the latest in a rash of no-frills 4WDs.

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Heat is on... the seven-seater Holden Colorado 7 is due in Australia in 2013, with the Colorado ute next year. Photo:

Holden has revealed the Colorado 7, the brand's first heavy-duty off-roader in almost a decade.

Destined to compete against off-road-ready vehicles such as Mitsubishi's Challenger and Nissan's Pathfinder, the new ute-based Colorado 7 follows in the tyre tracks of the long-dead Jackaroo in that it is, in effect, a dual-cab utility with a closed-in wagon rear end.

Due to arrive in Australia in the first quarter of 2013, the Colorado 7, as the name suggests, offers seven seats (Holden describes the layout as ''genuine third-row seating''). The five rear seats fold flat to offer a practical load space for larger or longer items.

Expect the standard equipment list to include niceties such as climate control, Bluetooth phone link-up and iPod connectivity.

The Colorado 7, previewed here by the Chevrolet TrailBlazer concept, will share the 2.8-litre turbo diesel four-cylinder engine that will power the coming Colorado ute range, expected to go on sale in the second half of next year.

The Colorado 7 will slot in above the Captiva 7 soft-roader.

The rough-and-tumble off-roader will fight for sales against Nissan's Pathfinder (priced from $48,490 plus on-road costs) and Mitsubishi's Challenger, the latter of which just received a cut-price five-seat, two-wheel-drive model priced at $36,990, with four-wheel-drive seven-seaters from $49,890.

Holden's head of marketing, sales and aftersales, John Elsworth, says he's confident the Colorado 7 will be a highly competitive offering. ''It will have the fuel efficiency and interior comfort of a modern family SUV, along with the towing ability of a working vehicle and the off-road capability of a true 4x4,'' Elsworth says. ''We're confident it will have all bases well and truly covered.''

Other manufacturers are expected to offer off-road ute-based soft-roaders in the future.

The head of development at Volkswagen, Ulrich Hackenberg, told Drive at the Frankfurt motor show earlier this year an Amarok SUV ''makes a lot of sense in some countries'' but hinted the brand would need to know it could sell plenty of them for the soft-roader to be considered.

Ford is also believed to be considering a wagon version of its new Ranger ute.

The general marketing manager of Ford Australia, David Katic, told Drive at this year's Melbourne motor show the company ''would be mad not to consider all opportunities for the platform'' and that ''nothing's off the table'' but he did not confirm a wagon version would be available.

It would not be the first ute-based 4WD from Ford - the Blue Oval previously offered a Courier-based 4WD known as the Raider.

If Ford did decide to revamp the Raider, Mazda would probably follow suit with a BT-50 soft-roader model, as both vehicles are built from the same underpinnings.

Toyota already builds a HiLux-based 4WD wagon, known as the Fortuner. It was designed and engineered in Australia but despite being offered in several nations, the off-roader isn't likely to be available here any time soon.

Isuzu is also likely to follow Colorado 7's lead, with the new-generation D-Max - which shares its body and underpinnings with the General Motors-based product - tipped to receive an SUV version based on the one-tonne ute.

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